Colors of a friendship

Munich's Lenbachhaus presents a friendly relationship of expressive luminosity: "August Macke and Franz Marc."

Elisabeth and August Macke 1908

Franz and Maria Marc in Sindelsdorf 1911

Which color the friendship has, is not to be said sweepingly. That of the two artists Franz Marc and August Macke is, despite their tragic end, characterized by luminous tones. As a proven expert on the "Blauer Reiter," the Lenbachhaus in Munich is now dedicating a comprehensive exhibition to the artist friendship. Around 200 paintings, works on paper, decorative art objects and private documents show the exchange that inspired the personal and artistic development of the two important Expressionists - the exhibits come primarily from the extensive collections of the Lenbachhaus in Munich and the Kunstmuseum Bonn.

August Macke: Franz and Maria Marc in the studio of August Macke in Bonn, 1912

August Macke: Portrait with apples (Elisabeth with apples), 1909

Franz Marc: Maria Franck, part: Two women on the mountain, 1906

August Macke: Portrait of Franz Marc, 1910

August Macke: Self-portrait with hat, 1909

This creative biographical episode, which began in January 1910, could be described as a short but wild gallop, when August Macke, fascinated by Marc's paintings, visited the fellow artist in his Munich studio on Schellingstraße. But Marc was also impressed by Macke's painting: he admired his young colleague for his careless handling of color.

Franz Marc: Blue Horse I, 1911

August Macke: Promenade, 1913

Franz Marc: The tiger, 1912

August Macke: Stroller (Large bright walk), 1913

Franz Marc: Gazelles, 1913/14

August Macke: Landscape with cows, sailing boat and painted figures, 1914

Franz Marc: Deer in the monastery garden, 1912

August Macke: Zoological garden I, 1912

Franz Marc: Horse in landscape, 1910

August Macke: Children at the fountain with city in the background, 1914

Only four years later, the 27-year-old Macke was killed in World War I, and Marc, seven years his senior, died in 1916. In between, however, there were joint journeys, mutual visits - along with their no less formative wives - and a very special collaborative work in which the warm friendship of such different characters culminated: the mural "Paradise" in Macke's Bonn studio. What a colorful palette of opinions and views can shape a friendship - the spontaneous Macke and the thoughtful Marc prove this in the most beautiful colors and the Lenbachhaus with a successful exhibition.

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